Bid Goodbye to the World
by Unsugar
Summary: She wonders when all things had gone wrong. She was supposed to win, not laying on the ground waiting for her death. For 500themes: 37 - Wake up, the day is dying.


**Title:** Bid Goodbye to the World

**Author/Artist:** unsugared aka Miracchin

**Rating: **G

**Fandom:** Saint Seiya (original series)

**Character(s)/Pairing(s):** Athena, Hades & Shun/HadesxShun.

**Theme:** 37. Wake up, the day is dying

**Genre/s:** Angst, tragedy

**Warnings:** A 'what-if' situation, angst, spoilers for Hades Chapter: Elysion. Hints of slash and het, whichever of the two that make you squick. Slight Athena bashing. You have been warned.

**Words: **1461

**Summary:** She wonders when all things had gone wrong. She was supposed to win, not laying on the ground waiting for her death.

**Disclaimer/Claimer:** Saint Seiya, in no way, belongs to me.

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"How long are you going to lie there, Athena?"

A deep masculine, highly-amused voice woke her up. Lifting her head, the Goddess shook the dizziness away, not remembering when she had collapsed.

A dark feeling had almost managed to make her stand up again, but the same presence crushed her back to the ground.

Athena could glare hatefully up at her arch-enemy towering over her.

Hades only gave her a dark smile, before backing off slightly from her weakening form. She knew it was not a gesture of surrendering, but to have a better view of how bad she had fallen.

_How hard the mighty had fallen,_ she could almost hear the Underworld God mocking her.

Athena took a careful look around her, searching for her Saints. She had noticed the way Hades had relaxed his form, which did not tell her anything good.

Seiya was the closest to her, but he was lying faced-down that she could not see his real condition. The only thing she could see was the blood pooling under his body, still clad in the God Cloth.

_Please, please be alive, Seiya, _she pleaded, although she knew no one can escape death after being stabbed by Hades' sword.

She refused to believe otherwise.

The rest; Shiryu, Ikki and Hyoga were all sprawled around her, not moving to give the Goddess of War any clue of their well-being. There were various cracks on their God Clothes that she did not see earlier, telling her they were still fighting even after she had fallen unconscious.

Even when they realised their chance of winning was getting dimmer.

"Where-?" She turned to look at the God in front of her and tried to get up again, and although Hades did not move to stop her this time, she only had enough energy to move the upper part of her body.

Hades gave her a satisfying smirk. "Searching for someone?" He stepped aside to give Athena the full view of what she dreaded to see.

Shun was lying on his side, facing her and his God Cloth was nowhere to be seen. His green eyes were blank, only looking at her without any feeling whatsoever.

Around his pale neck was a chain with the star-shaped pendant, one that she knew Ikki had destroyed earlier on.

Athena used her elbows to prop her body higher, trying to get up, and again failing. "What have you done to Shun?"

Hades moved back, and knelt down beside Shun. Playing with a fine strand of green hair, he looked back to the defeated Goddess. "Nothing much. Just making him realised that there is no way for him to defeat me. Not when you're down, Athena."

Said Goddess only paled more. "Shun-"

"Has willingly given me his loyalty in exchange for me to spare your world and his friends' life. Isn't it noble of him?"

The cruel smile and tone of Hades' voice told her that Shun's action was anything but voluntary. Shun would have fight to his death, but the God must have done something to him. The green eyes, lack of their usual bright light, told her at least that.

She could only look on in utter despair as Hades gave Shun's hair a final caress before standing up again.

"Now, why I would want him, you might ask," he said as he walked closer to Athena; if she could, she would have back off. Something was indeed wrong with his way of approaching. "You see, the world is too, _too_ filthy to live in now. I think the only way for humans to be able to live in that world is because they are filthy themselves. What would you say to the many souls currently in the pits and valleys of my Underworld? You've seen them, you can not deny that."

Athena could not respond, knowing there was truth in those words. She only continued to listen.

"There are still humans who have kind souls too, apparently. But they are weak, _too_ weak, to fight on their own. And the ones who are willing to fight for them are so little and too busy fighting for themselves. And some even turned corrupt. "

Athena knew he was referring to her Saints and Poseidon's Mariners.

"But Shun is different," he continued, his voice turned softer. If she did not know any better, Athena could have sworn there was a tone of _affection_ in it. "He is kind _and_ strong, and eventhough he has seen and lost so many things, his heart remained the same. Even his friends, despite still standing together, had lost their trust in this world."

The Goddess of War felt a pang in her heart. The way he said it as if he was mocking him; as if telling her he knew her closest Saints better than her.

Hades continued on, ignoring her horrified expression. "But there's only one him. One Shun. And even then he was not powerful enough. Not that I mean in strength, but in the power of authority. And that's what I'm giving him."

At this, he took in the change of expression on the Goddess' pale face. She already knew what he had in mind. His voice turned cold again, this time with pride.

"Athena, I'm going to make your _honourable_ Andromeda Saint as the Lord of the Underworld, the one who will represent me on the world above mine."

At that moment, her own world crumbled to dust, and she was simply too heart-broken to put the pieces back together. "You… You can't…"

"Of course I can. He is already with me on this," he waved an armor-clad hand towards Shun, who Athena noticed belatedly, had gotten up to sit properly, though his eyes still remained blank and emotionless. "It will be a matter of time for him to realise it is what he was meant to be, not to be enslaved forever by your ignorant of how their truly felt, Athena."

She did not even try to cover the flinch that came out, as it hurt too much to be conveiled.

Hades turned and walked back to Shun, before kneeling down to the boy's level. He whispered to an ear, and if Shun said something in reply, it would be too low for her to hear and too far for her to see. With a satisfied smile, the Underworld God stood up again, but not before giving Shun's temple a gentle kiss. One so gentle and affectionate that Athena felt her hands fisted on the ground with an unknown anger bubbled inside her.

"Now," Hades turned back to her, walking towards her with an air of calm hatred and pride around him. "I know I promised Shun to spare his friends' life, and that is exactly what I will do. I will even save the boy's life," he tilted his head toward the unconscious Seiya, "but they will not have as much freedom as Shun will. They are still _your_ Saints, afterall."

"… And Shun is not?" she gritted her teeth, trying to hide her obvious anger, and confusion when Hades turned to Seiya instead of her. He kneeled down, put a hand on the Clothed back and seconds later, the blood stopped pouring out.

"Did you see him wearing his Cloth? Of course not, because he had sworn his loyalty for me and his Cloth had deserted him. Now, as for you…"

She did not even realised when Hades had towered beside her, with his sword in his hand, too absorbed in his action for saving the Pegasus Saint. She looked up, and saw the dark smirk on the handsome face.

"You are simply too dangerous to be let live, Athena. Who knows what other tricks you have in your mind, and I will not let you think of one if you're going to survive."

She was well aware of the implications of those words, turned desperately to look at Shun.

_He would not… Shun would not betray me!_

The smirk just widen on Hades' face at seeing Athena's shocked face of Shun's betrayal. "You see, Shun does not _see_ you as a friend, just a spoilt princess he knew from childhood who grew into an ignorant young lady and a Goddess who he had to protect and kill for." He lifted his sword high.

"Why would I want to spare a life that had caused Shun nothing but misery?"

Athena could no longer hear the other God's taunting voice, eyes strained on the unresponsive figure of her former Saint.

"Say your goodbye to this world you love so much, Athena."

The last thing she saw was Shun's blank, cold eyes; telling her all hope had indeed, forever lost.

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**A/N:** I hope no one minds I end the fic like that. You should have figured out what will happen to Athena, anyway. And I hope there is no love lost too, since she is waaaaaay down on my likable characters list.

Thank you for reading and comments are well appreciated.

Unsugar


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